Thursday, August 16, 2012

Those dog days of summer are coming to an end. Hopefully everyone took a little time to soak up a few rays, have an ice cold whatever and enjoy a good beach read. Fall is in the air. It's time for back to school schedules, early bedtimes and FOOTBALL! But wait! Turn those frowns upside down! We have a giveaway hop to celebrate the Last Days of Freedom.
Thanks to Kathy from I am a Reader, Not a Writer and Jessi from The Elliott Review for hosting this Giveaway Hop.
For this giveaway I'm giving away an ARC of Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian.

Included with this ARC is a cute little bottle of sunscreen lotion-SPF 30 on a key chain. Both are courtesy of Simon and Schuster.
Rules for the Giveaway:

1. Please enter contact information in comment section.
2. This giveaway runs from August 17th to August 22nd. A winner will be selected on August 23rd.
3. You must be 13 years or older to participate.
4. If you are selected as the winner, you will be notified by email. If you do not respond within 48 hours, a new winner will be selected.
5. This giveaway is open to everyone-BUT you must be a follower.
Good luck and may the forces of evil be confused on the way to your house!

Monday, August 13, 2012

In Novel News Today:
The NPR Books has just released a list of "your" 100 Best-Ever Teen Novels. Over 75,000 people voted for their favorite YA books and here are the results. HERE
Some picks are surprising while others are not.....

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Summary from Goodreads:Brittany Rush is the face of Gotta Have It candy bars, the hands of Write On pencils, the hair of Knot Me Not detangle spray and the voice of Mom, It’s Delicious! soups. Brittany has been appearing in commercials and print ads since her backside was the official derriere of Simply Dry Diapers. When Brittany showed up at a callback some girls would actually just get up and go home since they knew it was almost impossible to compete with her. However, a month after her twelfth birthday, Brittany’s mother tells her that the entire family is moving to Hong Kong for a year. Brittany is forced to take a brief but agonizing break from her commercial career. After a year of being just an anonymous kid in a foreign country, Brittany is more than ready to return stateside to her steady diet of go-see’s, auditions, callbacks and bookings in NYC. Within 48 hours of landing at JFK Brittany’s agent Judith Lister of the A Lister’s Agency has three go-see’s for Brittany. When she shows up to the first go-see, she expects the spotlight to start shining on her again but instead she finds that, in the year that she has been gone, she has changed from being the cute kid to watch out for to just one of the many pretty girls waiting her turn. Will Brittany be able to steal back her spotlight? Or will she discover there's more to life than being a commercial success?
My Thoughts:
This is a book you can judge by it's cover! A perfect pick for tweens.This is a book I could put into the hands of my middle school readers with no doubt or fear of inappropriate material.
Main character Brittany is likable and easy to relate to even when her motives and thoughts aren't as perfect as her looks. She's a thirteen year old girl trying to figure out who she is and what she wants in the ever changing world of TV. I loved that she was confident and sure of herself. Another thing I really enjoyed was how supportive and loving Brittany's family is-especially her sister that trys to gently discourage Brittany from doing anything she might regret later.
PG Kain captures the language and world of teen girls perfectly-in fact I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't realize PG was a man(a stupid thing to assume, I know) until I visited his awesome website which you should definitely check out HERE
Another fun fact about the author is that he chose to write about something he knows very well-commercials and auditions(in fact he has some great tips and suggestions for kids that do commercial work on his website). He knows the ins and outs of this world and gives Brittany this knowledge and insight. This makes it very easy to get sucked into Brittany's world.
I have the second book to this series sitting on my shelf-Picture Perfect. I have no doubt that I will enjoy the next one as much as I did this one. I look forward to sharing both books with my tween daughter. Do judge this book by its cover-cute cover with a cute story! *I was sent this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. I will be donating this book to my local middle school library.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Thanks to all who participated in the Reading Road Trip 2012 Giveaway!
This hop was the brainchild of I Like These Books and Icey Books.
I BIG thank you to them for hosting this super fun AND educational hop.
Crystal has 48 hours to confirm after which I will be mailing her a hardback copy of Chris Crutcher's Deadline.

Friday, August 10, 2012

The Thing About The Truth
By Lauren Barnholdt
July 2012
304 Pages
Synopsis taken from Goodreads:In this humorous love story from the author of Two-Way Street, an unlikely romance is the best sort of surprise—but the wrong secret can ruin everything. Kelsey’s not going to let one mistake ruin her life. Sure, she got kicked out of prep school and all her old friends are shutting her out. But Kelsey’s focused on her future, and she’s determined to get back on track at Concordia High.Isaac’s been kicked out of more schools than he can count. Since his father’s a state senator, Isaac’s life is under constant scrutiny—but Concordia High’s his last stop before boarding school, so Isaac’s hoping to fly under the radar and try to stay put for a change.When Kelsey and Isaac meet, it’s anything but love at first sight. She thinks he’s an entitled brat, and he thinks she’s a stuck-up snob. So it surprises them both when they start to fall for each other. Kelsey’s happy for the first time in months, and Isaac’s never felt this way about anyone before...But nothing’s ever completely perfect. Everyone has secrets, and Isaac and Kelsey are no exceptions. These two may have fallen hard, but there’s one thing that can ruin it all: the truth.
My Thoughts:
This is the first book that I've read by Lauren Barnholdt. Other reviewers and bloggers have raved about her other books-Two Way Street and Sometimes It Happens so I was very excited to receive this one to review.
One of the things I liked about the book from the get go was that the story came from the perspective of both Isaac and Kelsey-a she said/he said narrative giving the reader a look into both characters. I also liked that the story was told from a before/now timeline starting with "The Aftermath" in the office of the Superintendent.
The author hooks the reader right from the start with the promise of lies, deception and cover ups. There is such a huge build up of secrecy from Kelsey that when the big reveal happens I felt let down. But honestly, the way Kelsey's parents were acting towards her had me thinking that maybe she was selling the tails of newborn kittens on the black market!
I had trouble connecting with Isaac at the start of the story because he seemed so full of himself but he definitely grew on me through the story.
I loved the two supporting characters-Chloe and Marshall so much that I wouldn't mind reading more about them. Marshall's love of baking had me laughing out loud as well as Chloe's way complicated love life.
Readers put off by curse words be warned: f-bombs a plenty are dropped. As well as sexual situations.

The Thing About The Truth is a good story with a great message- "The thing about the truth is that it always comes out, no matter what you do."
Thank you to Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. I will be giving away this ARC at the end of this month.